Aggregated performance reporting for DFA

Today we're happy to announce version 1.13 of the DoubleClick for Advertisers (DFA) API.
Why are we mentioning it here in the Data Transfer blog? Well, if you use our DFA product then it's likely that you use some combination of event level data mixed with aggregated data to generate your digital advertising insights. We'll discuss why v1.13 is notable as well as how you can make greater use of the aggregated reports from the API.

The DFA report service

The release marks the first time that a web services API interface is available for DFA's Report Central. Previously, if you wanted to programmatically extract reports you had to either pick up file attachments from scheduled email reports or use the Java-only DFA API reporting interface. For automated systems and ETLs, the email attachments approach is only really suitable as a fall-back mechanism. And while the Java interface offers a full-featured programming interface (including gets, sets, creates and deletes), it can result in more effort on your part having to develop both in Java and whatever other language you use to interact with the DFA trafficking web services interface.

To help solve these problems the DFA API v1.13 release includes a new report service that allows you to generate and retrieve reports from predefined queries. Check on them periodically to see when they have finished being compiled and retrieve a URL where you can download the completed report.

A report produced by the API works like any other in the DFA reporting interface; like your Data Transfer files, it can be published every morning, local time. Typically you'll be able to retrieve your report at the same time that your DT Match Tables are done.

Using aggregated performance data to compliment DT event data

So when can it be useful or even required to use aggregated reporting data? There are two general cases: (1) letting DoubleClick do the simple aggs for you, (2) the metric you're interested in isn't offered within Data Transfer. For the first, we see customers using aggregations to provide ready-made reports for their users. This can free-up your time to focus on higher value reports - typically those that are user (User-ID/cookie) based. We also see customers using aggregations to test and validate against event level DT data. This involves examining a previous day's aggregated click counts or a previous month's aggregated matched conversions (referred to as "post-click" and "post-impression" in DFA reporting parlance). And in perhaps the most interesting case related to the API, some customers use the web services interface to expand DFA IDs that either haven't come through in Match Tables or to gather dimensions not delivered in Match Tables. Let's discuss this last case a little more...

We strive to provide ID lookups in your daily Match Tables but sometimes a dimension is missing. This can happen when, for example, a dynamic Click Ad is reactivated after having been dormant for more than 30 days. A small number (perhaps the first 0.05%) of requests for that Ad may lack a Buy-ID. Since we generate most of your Match Tables daily you might otherwise have to wait a full day to resolve the name value. Interrogating the API (trafficking/UI in this case) can be a better way to resolve the name value in near real time.

Regarding dimensions not included in your Match Tables, there are two ways to resolve this: request a newer Match Table or a custom Match Table, or expand your IDs by querying the API. To request new/custom Match Tables (have you checked if you are receiving the "latest and greatest" in a while? We don't change your Match Tables until you ask us to.), you can ask your Account Manager to start a DT audit. You can also expand your IDs directly by making batch requests to the API (either reporting or trafficking services, as necessary). For example, some clients may want to periodically pull the Placement-Comments for one particular advertiser. Doing this with the API is a snap. Another useful application, if you're a DoubleClick Search customer, is to use the reporting service to capture search engine click stats since only the DFA equivalent click stats appear in Data Transfer.


-- Matthew Trojanovich, the DoubleClick Data Transfer Team